The Apothecary Inn
Kitchen Gardens
We are your exclusive seed source for the
Applegate Valley Heirloom Tomato!
Currently, the grounds are divided into four separate garden areas: two pasture gardens, a formal herb & flower garden, and a section of wooden raised beds. There is also a small orchard (comprised mainly of young heirloom apple trees, with a few peach, plum, and cherry trees as well).
We have been proud members of the Seed Savers Exchange (SSE)!
The farm specializes in rare heirloom fruits, herbs, and vegetables. The selection varies from year to year, and is of course dependent upon the whims of Mother Nature and her insect/furry companions.
Below, you will find a list of planned varieties for our 2013 garden.
We do our best to ensure seed purity, though there is always a chance of cross-pollination. Our peppers are grown in homemade isolation cages (constructed of Reemay cloth and PVC pipe). For self-pollinating tomatoes and bush beans, we separate each variety by at least a few feet, and plant heavily-flowering Borage and Calendula in between the rows. This encourages insect pollinators to go elsewhere, and decreases the risk of cross-pollination. For pole beans, we separate by at least a few feet, and interplant Scarlet Runner Beans and other flowering vines. Corn is separated by 300 feet and a slightly staggered planting schedule.
Fresh produce is of course seasonal, so please inquire for availability. Items such as tomatoes and peppers are usually ready by mid- to late-summer, while greens are grown only in the spring and sometimes fall. Dry Good items such as cornmeal, dried herbs, and dry beans are usually available year round (though the best supply is always in the fall after the harvest!).
(For restaurants & other commercial buyers, please take 20% off of the listed prices.)
VARIETY |
DESCRIPTION |
PRICE |
|---|---|---|
ARTICHOKE |
||
Green Globe |
The original "improved" artichoke! Green Globe flowers in early summer. Greenish-purple globes are 3-5 inches in diameter and have wonderfully thick, flavorful hearts. Seeds from Territorial Seed Company, and crowns obtained through local gardening network. | N/A |
Purple of Romagna |
French heirloom artichoke noted for its fine flavor and pretty purple buds. Rare outside of Europe. Thorny! Seeds obtained through Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. | N/A |
Violet de Provence |
French heirloom artichoke noted for its fine flavor and pretty purple buds. Rare outside of Europe. Thorny! Seeds obtained through Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. | N/A |
BEANS, DRY |
||
Amish Knuttle Dry Bean
|
Old cutshort bean variety preserved by Amish farmers in SE Pennsylvania under the name "Gnuddelbuhn" (which translates as a "bean resembling a dropping" - who says farmers don't have a sense of humor?). This dry bean is excellent for soups & stews. The dry beans are colored purple-gray with garnet speckles. Seed obtained from fellow SSE members. | N/A 2013 |
Cherokee Trail of Tears Dry Bean
|
Green pods ripen to purple & contain shockingly jet black seeds. Heirloom bean supposedly brought along by the Cherokee Nation on the infamous Trail of Tears. Seed obtained from SSE. | Limited - Inquire |
Coco Sophie Dry Bean |
"White Cranberry." Pre-1760 bean variety that is most likely native to the eastern US. Rare seed obtained from Heritage Farm seed vault/SSE. | N/A 2013 |
Dinkelbuhne Dry Bean |
Very rare Pennsylvania Dutch heirloom brown cornfield bean (usually cooked with whole-grain porridges). Meaty flavor, very tasty. Seeds obtained from Heritage Farm/SSE. | N/A 2013 |
Flagg Dry Bean
|
Also known as "Chester" or "Skunk Bean" for the beautiful black & white coloring of the dry beans. RARE bean originated with the Iroquois, and is lima bean shaped. Seed obtained from fellow SSE members. | Limited - Inquire |
Indian Hannah Dry Bean |
"Lenape Cutshort" or "Delaware Cutshort." The seeds are tan with brown markings, & are tightly packed into pods. A good producer. This is a VERY RARE cutshort bean from the Lenape/Delaware Indian Nation. Seeds obtained through fellow SSE members. |
N/A 2013 |
Lazy Housewife (White) Dry Bean |
So-called due to its stringless quality as well as the ability to be used as both a snap and dry bean. White seeds are delicious in soups! | N/A 2013 |
Mostoller Wild Goose Dry Bean |
Pennsylvania heirloom bean is excellent for baking or for soups. The large (nearly lima bean sized) seeds are white on the underside and heavily speckled with brown & maroon over an orange patch around the eye. Seeds obtained from fellow SSE members. | N/A 2013 |
Papa del Rola Dry Bean
|
"Dove's Breast." Plump, oval beans are half white and half beige, streaked with red. An excellent soup bean with good flavor. Vigorous vines. Seed obtained through Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. |
N/A 2013 |
Snowcap/Porcelain Dry Bean
|
These large kidney-shaped beans are mottled beige and maroon on one side and white on the other. They retain their markings after cooking. Excellent for soups. Seed obtained from fellow SSE members. | N/A 2013 |
BEANS, FAVA |
||
Broad Windsor |
The traditional variety. Seeds obtained from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. | N/A (fresh seeds) |
BEANS, RUNNER |
||
Scarlet Runner Dry Bean |
Mottled purple & black beans are quite large and make an excellent dry bean for soups. | $10.00/lb |
BEANS, WAX |
||
Dragon Tongue Wax Bean |
Extremely productive heirloom wax bean. Delicious purple-streaked green pods are wonderful for fresh eating. They lose their purple streaks during cooking. Best for cooking or fresh eating. NOT GOOD FOR FREEZING! Seeds obtained through personal seed saving as well as SSE. | $3.50/lb |
BEETS |
||
Detroit Dark Red Beet |
The heirloom standard for beets! Blood-red flesh is very sweet, and tops make excellent salad greens in spring and fall. | $0.50/beet |
CARROT |
||
Carrot |
Assorted varieties. | $0.25/carrot |
CORN |
||
Dakota Popcorn |
Dark-hued popping corn. Seeds obtained through Baker Creek. | Limited - Inquire |
Oaxacan Green Dent Corn Flour
|
An absolutely beautiful, jade-green dent corn that can be ground into a delicious green-hued cornmeal! Original seed through SSE, but now exclusively from personal seed saving. | $5.00/lb |
EGGPLANT |
||
Ping Tung Eggplant |
A deliciously sweet and tender eggplant from Ping Tung, Taiwan. Long, slender fruits. Use for baking cakes! Seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. | N/A 2013 |
FRUITS & BERRIES |
||
Desert King Figs |
A delicious "honey" fruit... | $4/pint basket |
Red & Gold Raspberries |
$4/pint basket | |
Strawberries |
Tiny strawberries are simultaneously sweet and tart! Perfect for fresh eating as well as cooking! Try combining with tarragon for an exotically delicious jam! | $4/pint basket |
GARLIC |
||
Assorted Heirloom Garlic |
We grow a large variety of heirloom garlic each year. | N/A 2013 |
Elephant Garlic |
Technically a leek, but used as a garlic. LARGE cloves have a mild flavor. | N/A 2013 |
GRAINS |
||
Quinoa |
||
Sorghum - Tarahumara Grain (for popping) |
A small, nutty-flavored popcorn substite. Grains are about the size of peppercorns, and can be ground into a nutritious, gluten-free flour for baking too. | N/A 2013 |
Sorghum - Mennonite Grain |
Grains are about the size of peppercorns, and can be ground into a nutritious, gluten-free flour for baking. | N/A 2013 |
Sorghum - Mennonite Sweet Cane |
Similar to sugarcane, this can be pressed, and the juice boiled down to form sorghum molasses. | N/A 2013 |
GREENS |
||
Arugula |
Spicy leaves are an excellent addition in spring salads! |
$4.00/8 oz bag |
Beet Greens |
A wonderful addition to spring salads! |
$5.00/8 oz bag |
Bloomsdale Longstanding Spinach |
The traditional heirloom spinach variety. Leaves are delicious fresh in salads, sauteed, or even pureed and used to make spinach noodles for pasta! |
N/A 2013 |
Buckshorn Plantain |
“Minutina.” Nutritious salad green has been around since Colonial times! The succulent, crunchy leaves are best when harvested young, and taste a little like parsley or spinach, but with a sweeter, nuttier flavor profile. Flowers are also edible. | N/A 2013 |
Celtuce |
"Stem Lettuce" or "Celery Lettuce." Used as a more mildly flavored celery substitute. | Inquire for pricing & details |
Chickweed |
Spring-Summer greens, good for both culinary and medicinal purposes. | N/A 2013 |
Garden Sorrel |
Adds a delicious citrus-sour zest to salads! Early Spring crop - leaves turn bitter once summer's heat hits. | $5.00/8 oz bag |
Good King Henry |
Medieval plant with long stalks and arrow-shaped leaves. The plant can be harvested for salad greens or the stalks cooked and eaten similar to asparagus. | N/A 2013 |
Purslane |
Our purslane was originally growing wild on the property, but we harvested the seeds in 2010 and are now deliberately cultivating it as a salad herb. Salty-sour-tasting leaves may require some getting used to, but are an excellent adornment for cold zucchini soup and other summertime dishes! Seeds can also be ground into a nutritious and delicious bread flour. | $4.00/8 oz bag |
GROUND CHERRY |
||
Ground Cherry |
$5/pint box | |
HERBS & MISC |
||
Basil, Assorted Varieties |
Varieties include Lemon, Cinnamon, and Genovese. | Inquire for pricing & availability |
Borage Flowers
|
Beautiful blue/purple flowers gladden the heart and the salad! Edible blossoms taste like cucumber, and are a refreshing addition to summer drinks. We freeze them in ice cubes for an attractive, cooling appearance in sun tea! They don't keep well, so use quickly or freeze. | $5.00/(20) flowers |
Comfrey |
Nutritious herb that is fabulous sauteed with butter and onions, or dry the leaves and powder for a healthy addition to breads and noodles! | $2/bag |
Coriander/Cilantro |
$7.00/4 oz Coriander Seed $5.00/Cilantro bunch or bag |
|
Dill, Mammoth |
As the name implies, this is a very large variety of dill. Ours often reach 4-5 feet! Excellent fresh or dried! | N/A 2013 |
Epazote |
Traditional Mexican culinary herb, the dried leaves are most often used in bean dishes (as it helps allay flatulence). A little goes a loooooooong way, so use sparingly! | Inquire for pricing & availability |
Evening Primrose Seeds |
This "PMS Avenger" is a spicy addition to crackers and desserts! Ask us about our "Primrose PMS Crackers" recipe! Also VERY delicious in brownies and other chocolate desserts. Leaves, flowers, and roots are edible too, and add their own peppery flavor to cooking and salads! | $1.00/oz Inquire for pricing on leaves, flowers, and roots |
Lavender, English |
Inquire for pricing & availability | |
Mexican Marigold |
Though generally used as a medicinal, this plant also makes a pleasant-tasting tea, and its leaves can be pureed and used to make Huacatay sauce. | Inquire |
Mint, Assorted |
Moroccan, Chocolate, Peppermint, Apple, Spearmint, etc. | $2/bag |
Oregano, Assorted |
$3/bag | |
Rosemary |
$3/bunch | |
Sage, Garden & Purple |
$2/bunch | |
Sweet Woodruff |
Medieval strewing herb that is also an interesting flavoring addition to cooking. Imparts a vanilla flavor to jams and other dishes. Strain out leaves when finished cooking. | Inquire for pricing & availability |
Thyme, Assorted |
$3/bunch | |
Yellow Dock Seeds |
Wild pasture "weed" related to buckwheat. Seeds have a very unique flavor, and can be used (ground) as a substitute for buckwheat flour! We use them in our Maple-Ginger Waffles! Seeds are painstakingly separated and HAND-CLEANED by Jillian (which is a true effort of love). 1/4 cup per recipe is all you need! | $9 per 1/4 cup of ground seed (High price is due to extreme labor involved in preparing seed) |
KOHLRABI |
||
Early White Vienna Kohlrabi |
N/A 2013 | |
LEEKS & ONIONS |
||
Leeks, Assorted |
Inquire for pricing & availability | |
Assorted heirloom Onions |
Large sweet onion named for Walla Walla, WA. Use fresh, as it has poor storage qualities. | Inquire for pricing & availability |
Egyptian Walking Onions |
"Walking Onion." Provides onion greens in spring/summer/fall, and multiplies by topset bulblets that eventually fall over in mid to late summer and replant themselves (hence the name "Walking Onion"). Very hardy plant! Onion starts obtained through local gardening network. | Inquire for pricing & availability |
PEAS, BUSH |
||
Little Marvel |
||
PEPPER |
||
Aji Dulce Pepper (C. chinense) |
For those who like the rich, smoky flavor of Habanero without the heat! Ripens bright red. Late season. Seeds obtained through fellow SSE member. | Inquire |
Aji Limo(n) Pepper (C. baccatum) |
"Lemon Drop" pepper. Small yellow peppers are loaded with a fantastic sweet citrus & mango flavor, and pack a PUNCH of heat! FANTASTIC for mango salsa! Seeds obtained from Bountiful Gardens. | $0.50/pepper |
Chapeau de Frade Pepper (Original Strain) (C. baccatum) |
"Friar's Hat," "Biretta Vermelha." VERY RARE true bell-shaped heirloom pepper. Flavor is incredible and unique!: unripe fruits are imbued with the distinct flavor of hops blossoms - a sort of sweet, grassy taste with a slight hint of heat around the seeds. Some fruits are mildly hot, and some are not. Obtained through Heritage Farm/SSE. | N/A 2013 |
Chapeau de Frade Pepper (HOT Strain) (C. baccatum) |
Supposedly same pepper as previous, but listed as "incredibly hot," which makes me wonder if there was possibly some previous cross-pollination with a nearby hot pepper? The "heat gene" in peppers is dominant, so if a sweet pepper accidentally gets crossed with a hot pepper, the result is another hot pepper. Therefore, I am treating these two varieties as separate until more comparisons can be done. Seeds obtained from Sandhill Preservation Center. | N/A 2013 |
Chile Congo de Nicaragua Pepper (C. annum) |
Wild bush chile from Nicaragua, about 3 ft tall. Tiny erect fruits ripening black to red. Classic flavoring in Nicaraguan cookery, heat fades after first bite. | N/A 2013 |
Chile Negro |
Traditional chile used in making Mole sauce. | N/A 2013 |
Roberto's Cuban Seasoning Pepper (C. chinense) |
Flavorful seasoning pepper with incredibly high yields of wrinkled, squash-shaped fruits that turn bright red at maturity. According to Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, "Flavor is incredible, bursting with sweet citrus overtones and a hint of smokiness. Only the seed area has much heat; the rest is very mild." Seeds obtained from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. | N/A 2013 |
POTATOES |
||
Adirondack Blue |
Medium-large, oval to oblong tubers with dark blue skin and purple flesh. Mid-season variety. | |
Ajawiri |
Technically NOT a potato (belongs to Solanum ajanhuiri), but generally listed/used as one. Fingerling landrace tuber, believed to be similar (perhaps parent) to Negresse. Dark purple-ish skin and flesh. Long growing season. Tubers obtained from fellow SSE member. |
|
Beauty of Hebron |
Medium-sized tubers with white skin and white flesh. Good all-around cooking potato. Tubers obtained through fellow SSE members. | |
Blue Shetland |
Small tubers with purple skin and unique white flesh with a dotted purple ring. Mid-season, originally from Scotland. Tubers obtained through fellow SSE members. | |
Kennebec |
Large tubers with white skin and white flesh. Good disease/pest resistance. High yields. Mid-season. Tubers obtained through local Grange. | |
Negresse |
Technically NOT a potato (belongs to Solanum ajanhuiri), but generally listed/used as one. Fingerling landrace tuber, believed to be similar to Ajawiri. Dark purple-black skin and flesh, tastes like a truffle! DELICIOUS! Unlike the Congo potato, you can leave the skin on for cooking as it is not bitter. Long growing season. Imported from Peru to France about 1815. Tubers obtained from fellow SSE members. | |
Red Modoc |
||
ROOTS & TUBERS |
||
Jerusalem Artichoke |
$3.00/lb | |
Yacon Roots |
This South American tuber is a relative of the sunflower. Delicious roots get sweeter after being dug and "cured" for a week out of the sun. These roots do NOT keep well, and are therefore available on a LIMITED basis during harvest time. They make a great sugar substitute in recipes, with a taste & texture similar to Jicama. Good for diabetics. We love using yacon around Thanksgiving in our cranberry-fennel-yacon relish! | $1.00 per root |
SQUASH |
||
Futzu Winter Squash |
Inquire for pricing & availability | |
Sweet Meat Winter Squash |
Inquire for pricing & availability | |
Black Beauty Zucchini |
50 cents each | |
TOMATO |
||
Applegate Valley Heirloom Tomato
|
A gorgeous bicolor tomato with a fresh, fruity taste! Productive plants are generously yielding of their 1-2 lb. fruits! Orange/yellow tomato with red blush on outside, and red swirls throughout inside. Seeds obtained from local gardener from Applegate, Oregon, who has been saving these seeds for "as long as {she} can remember." Similar to tomato variety, "Pineapple." | Inquire for pricing & availability |
Joya de Oaxaca Tomato |
("Jewel of Oaxaca") Little known heirloom tomato with yellow flesh that is marbled with reds, oranges, and pinks, that explodes with flavor. Though this plant is NOT a heavy yielder, it produces ~1 lb, delicious fruits that are excellent both fresh or dried. Seeds obtained through Heritage Farm/SSE, and originally from William Woys Weaver. This is a tomato is similar to the indigenous varieties found in South America by the conquistadors. | $2.00/lb |
Litchi "Tomato" |
"Morelle de Balbis." Not actually a true tomato, though related. Large plants are covered in thorns, which make harvesting this a true challenge! Sweet, red fruits are about the size of a cherry, very seedy, and taste like a cherry/raspberry/tomato mix. In short: DELICIOUS! Amazing either freshly sliced in summer salads or cooked down into sauces and jams. | $4.00/(pint) basket |
Carbon |
A dark purple-hued tomato with a taste even more delicious than Black Krim! Seeds obtained through Baker Creek. | $2.50/lb |
TURNIP |
||
Purple Top White Globe Turnip |
$1.00/lb |
